MUMBAI, July 17 (Agencies): Alleging that Maharashtra Police did not promptly probe the Laila Khan case after the Bollywood starlet's sudden disappearance with her family, her father Nadir Shah Patel today moved the Bombay High Court seeking transfer of the case from crime branch to CBI.

Meanwhile, a team of police and forensic experts today searched Bollywood starlet Laila Khan`s Igatpuri farm house in Nashik, where she and her family members were allegedly murdered and reconstructed the sequence of events leading to the killings with the help of arrested accused Parvez Tak, police said.

The city's crime branch had last Tuesday claimed to have cracked the mystery behind the family's disappearance last year with the recovery of six skeletons believed to be those of Laila, her mother Shelina, three siblings and a relative at the family farmhouse in Igatpuri.

The family was allegedly done to death by Laila's step father and third husband of her mother Parvez Tak, a small-time contractor from Jammu and Kashmir. The murder came to light following Tak's arrest by J&K Police and his sustained questioning.

In his petition, Patel has alleged the crime branch and local police in Maharashtra had not properly investigated the case for a year despite a missing persons complaint by him.

According to Patel, he had approached Oshiwara police last year to file a missing complaint but till the arrest of Tak no probe was initiated by the police. It was only when Jammu and Kashmir Police gave details to the crime branch after Tak's alleged confession that a probe was initiated, the petition said.

While seeking CBI probe, Patel has also sought action against the senior Inspectors of Oshiwara and Igatpuri police stations for their failure to discharge their duties. The petition will come up for hearing in due course.

Meanwhile, a team of police and forensic experts today searched Bollywood starlet Laila Khan`s Igatpuri farm house in Nashik, where she and her family members were allegedly murdered and reconstructed the sequence of events leading to the killings with the help of arrested accused Parvez Tak, police said.

The team, along with Tak, reached the bungalow this morning and carried out extensive search operation, where they had collected a few sticks that could have been used while executing the crime, a senior police official said.

"Our team has also employed a few labourers in the area to assist in the search. There are about 25 to 30 people including policemen, forensic experts and labourers, who searched every nook and cranny of the bungalow," a crime branch official added.

Tak explained how he executed the crime from start to end, the official said.

However, the official refused to comment, when asked whether there were any contradictions in the previous claims made by the accused.

"The team has also talked to the local people to know about the details of Khan`s family stay. Through the locals` versions, we would be able know when the family had come to the bungalow for the stay, for how long they stayed and other day-to-day activities, etc," Additional Police Commissioner (Crime) Niket Kaushik said.

The investigating team is likely to come back to Mumbai tonight, police said adding that their efforts to trace Tak`s associate Shakir Hussain have not yielded any results.

Sceptical about Tak`s claim that the killings took place on the ground floor of the farm house, police are now trying to pick up the trail on the blood stains found on the mattresses on the first floor.

According to police, Tak, the third husband of Laila`s mother Shelina (51), had a heated argument with her on the night of February 7 last year at the Igatpuri bungalow, following which, he hit her with a blunt object, causing her death.

As other members of the family, namely Laila (30), her elder sister Azmina (32), twin siblings Zara and Imran (25) and cousin Reshma alias Tulli, came running down from the first floor after hearing the commotion, Tak called watchman Shakir Hussain Wani, also from Kishtwar and the two had a scuffle with them.

After neutralising Imran, the only male member of the family, by hitting him on the head with an iron rod, the two killed others. There are grievous injury marks on Imran`s skull, police said.

Meanwhile, a skull-photo superimposition technique was also being used by the forensic team to identify the deceased, police said adding that, "With this modern method, the team can prepare a photograph of the deceased using the skull."

Police have already collected DNA samples of mothers of Reshma and Shelina, besides that of Shelina`s first husband Nadir Patel.

The deceased family owned a locker in a private bank and we are in the process of finding out its contents, police said.

According to media reports, the Crime Branch team, searching for evidence against the prime accused Parvez Tak, inspected and collected fingerprint samples from the flat where the deceased actress stayed for 10 year.

Reports state that the forensics team, accompanied by Unit VIII officers, conducted relevant tests for more than five hours at the ground floor and the four bedrooms in flat number 104 of the Sunshine Apartments, located metres away from the Oshiwara police station.

According to the investigating officers, the tests were conducted after Tak, arrested for killing Laila and her family members, confessed that he had gone to the Oshiwara flat to rob jewellery worth lakhs.

Fingerprints have been collected from the cupboard and the locker, and will be matched against fingerprints of Tak found in the Igatpuri bungalow as well as on the murder weapon he used to kill his victims.

A team of Crime Branch officers is on the lookout for Shakir Hussain, who used to work in Laila Khan's household, in Kashmir.

According to the police, Shakir along with Pervez Tak carried out the murders of Laila and her family members in the Igatpuri farmhouse.

SRINAGAR, Jul 17: An unidentified ‘militant’ was killed in the wee hours today in an encounter with police and army at Batsunjhi in Handwara area of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district, police said.
The militant, according to the police, was hiding in the forest near Jaba in the village. On a tip off, the police and army started a search operation overnight, resulting in a gunfight that ended at 9 AM with death of the ‘militant’.
“On receiving the information, the police and 6 RR jointly launch